


Things Beyond Their Understanding

by joeyjames (lilyandjoey)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming Out, Community: lgbtfest, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-30
Updated: 2008-05-30
Packaged: 2017-10-15 20:25:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/164625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyandjoey/pseuds/joeyjames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Justin had thought that telling his friends would be easier than telling his parents. Now he wonders how he could have been so wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things Beyond Their Understanding

**Author's Note:**

> Written for lgbtfest.
> 
>  **Prompt:** 372\. Harry Potter: Any character. A Muggle-born student finds out that coming out at Hogwarts is very different to coming out in the Muggle world. (How it's different is up to you.)

“It’s not that they don’t believe you,” Hermione says in her usual matter-of-fact tone.

Justin looks up and glares at her, just daring her to comment on his red-rimmed eyes. He has been sitting on the slightly damp grass for about half an hour now and his trousers are getting a bit wet. It’s been nearly two hours since he decided to tell Ernie that he was gay. One and a half hours since he stormed out of the common room in a blind rage brought on by exasperation at having to repeat himself so many times. He spent the first hour or so pacing and hurling stones into the lake to blow off steam. Hermione smiles at him sadly and he relents.

“What do you mean?” he asks, preparing himself for a long tedious lecture.

Hermione casts a damp-proofing charm on her skirt and sits down next to him. Justin wishes he had been in a clearer state of mind and thought to do the same to his trousers.

“Wizards are a lot more old-fashioned than Muggles ...”

Justin snorts at this and Hermione stops to look at him in disbelief.

“Hermione, I have to have French tutoring in the summer, because my parents have told all their friends that I go to an exclusive French boarding school. It was the only thing they could think of that would match or top going to Eton, without the possibility of being caught in a lie. They’re making plans about who to introduce me too once I’ve got this ‘little phase’ out of the way. And they don’t even know that I’m gay – they’re talking about the magic!”

Justin pauses for breath looking a little flustered.

“And you thought that here, people would accept you for being different,” Hermione finishes, looking a little sad.

Justin hunches over, knees pulled up to his chest and puts his head in his hands.

“Ernie looked at me like I’d just told him I was a – a cactus,” Justin mumbles. Hermione isn’t sure that she’s heard that correctly.

“A what?” she asks quizzically.

“Exactly!” Justin says, looking up at her, “He wasn’t upset or angry or disgusted, he was just confused. It was as if he had no idea what I was talking about!”

Hermione smiles wryly.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you. Wizards are quite old-fashioned. They don’t have electricity or the Internet or telephones or the internal combustion engine. They have candle-light and broomsticks and they send their post by owl. It’s all very old-fashioned. They don’t have a concept of sexual preference. There are only sexual acts. And even those aren’t discussed and should be kept behind closed doors. Look at Wizarding robes – voluminous things that keep you hidden from neck to the floor.”

Justin looks at Hermione as if she had grown an extra head. So far his contact with Hermione has always been in an educational setting (which is logical as they are at school) and he has only heard her talk about school work or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He has never heard her personal views on anything else. It is strange to hear her talk with such passion about something that doesn’t relate to class.

“Are you a lesbian?” he finds himself asking, though he is sure he hasn’t told his mouth to say it. Hermione smiles at him and he notices that her smile is still tinged with sadness.

“No,” she says slowly, “I’m not. I’m just disillusioned. I thought I’d found a world where I would be understood. Where I would fit in and not be teased for wanting to learn. I was wrong. I found a world of intolerance and irrational hatred where the people are just as xenophobic as my parents; only this time the hatred is aimed at me.”

“And me,” Justin says softly.

Hermione smiles at him and reaches out her hand. He takes it and they sit there in contemplative silence for a while.

“What do I do now?” Justin asks, staring up at the sky.

“You have three options;” Hermione says after a long pause, “Option one: marry a girl your parents approve of and keep magic and men as dirty little secrets. Option two: marry a nice witch, be disowned by your parents and keep men as a dirty little secret. Option three: do whatever the hell you want and sod everyone else.”

“Hermione!” Justin says in mock shock, “Language!”

Hermione smiles at him and it’s a genuine smile at last.

“I still prefer option three. Do you know that my parents are dentists?” she asks.

“No,” Justin answers, not entirely sure where she’s going with this.

“They are,” Hermione says nodding, “and they wanted me to be a doctor. They tell people I got into a prestigious boarding school on a scholarship. They could afford to pay but they think scholarship sounds impressive. Do you know what I’m going to do?”

Justin shakes his head in the appropriate place and Hermione barely pauses.

“I’m going to study the various applications of Arithmancy and be an academic. And in my spare time, I’m going to campaign to raise awareness of the rights of oppressed magical beings. Harry will support me because he understands and Ron will support me even though he doesn’t.”

Justin smiles at her and squeezes her hand.

“Thanks,” he says and looks back out over the lake.

“Well,” Hermione says, “I can’t sit here holding hands with you all day – people will talk.”

Justin laughs and lets go of her hand. Hermione stands up and starts to walk away.

“Hermione,” Justin says and she turns at the sound of his voice. “Thanks," he adds softly.

“It’ll be okay. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be okay. And you know where I am.”

“Yeah,” says Justin, “I do.”

Hermione walks back to the castle and Justin sits at the edge of the lake, watching the sky grow dark and wondering whether he’ll ever be as strong as her.  



End file.
